Women in agriculture undervalued, says CARE

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AS THE world marks the International Day of Rural Women today, aid organisation CARE Australia says women are central to agricultural and rural development worldwide, but lack equal access to opportunities and resources.

According to CARE, rural women produce 90% of the world's food, but own just 1% of its farmland. If women farmers were given the same access to resources such as seeds, fertiliser and credit as men, research shows they could increase their crop yields by 20-30% and bring more than 100 million people out of hunger.

CARE Australia works with rural women in developing countries who endure poor working conditions, low pay and little or no social protection despite representing 70 per cent of the agricultural workforce.

Their rural sisters in Australia - approximately one third of women across the nation - make a significant contribution to the economy, but are also disadvantaged in terms of university access, poor public transport and maternity care compared with urban women.

CARE Australia CEO Dr Julia Newton-Howes said it was important to recognise the enormous contribution women make to the development of their communities in Australia and overseas.

"Rural women are pivotal to improving agricultural development and food security and reducing hunger. With the proper resources, women are best positioned to lift families and entire communities out of poverty," Dr Newton-Howes said.

"For instance, CARE is raising awareness of land rights, empowering rural women to improve their farming practices and helping them access loans to start small agricultural businesses. Statistics show that women and girls reinvest up to 90 per cent of their income in their families and communities."

In Zimbabwe, CARE has introduced an agriculture project that teaches women farmers in the drought-prone Masvingo District how to reduce input costs and labour while increasing their crop yield.

Prior to participating in the scheme, Shiliar Lawangware had to resort to begging to feed her family of six. She said: "Before, we didn't have enough food to sell, not even enough to eat. We had to beg to get extra food. Our crop was spread over a large area, but we didn't harvest much."

Today, she grows maize, groundnuts, tomatoes, beans and carrots on the four-hectare farm and sells the surplus to cover school costs and other household expenses such as clothing and medicine.

"I have learnt about the importance of timing, mulching and crop rotation. The rainfall here is very little, and this soil needs a lot of rain so mulching is very important as it helps to keep moisture in the soil. There is also a lot of land degradation, but CARE teaches us how to protect against soil erosion," Shiliar said.